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Illustrations from:
Art Museum Image Gallery
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Comprehensive and trustworthy since 1940
Combining the content of five H.W. Wilson biographical databases, Biography Reference Bank is the ultimate single biographical resource for library patrons of all ages and interests.
This unmatched resource offers the in-depth, original profiles of Wilson Biographies Plus Illustrated, and Current Biography, the thorough periodicals coverage of Biography Index, and the specialist biographical content of Junior Authors & Illustrators as well as biographical full-text articles, page images, and abstracts from the complete range of Wilson databases, licensed profiles from other respected sources, and articles from today’s leading magazines and journals.
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The wealth of content in this database, together with the versatility and precision of WilsonWeb functionality, makes Biography Reference Bank the perfect resource for well-rounded, complete, and timely biographical research for library patrons in any discipline, as well as patrons working in multidisciplinary fields, such as women’s studies, cultural studies, media studies, and more.
For those patrons who need more than biographical profiles, Biography Reference Bank also includes links to feature articles, interviews, essays, book reviews, performance reviews, speeches, obituaries, and other biographical content from Wilson databases.
New! Graphical interface makes it easier to find profiles and pictures of key historical figures and current newsmakers. New! ReadSpeaker text-to-speech converter has been extended to biographical profiles.
Biography Reference Bank features:
- Coverage of more than 660,700 individuals
- Links to over 380,000 related full-text articles, as well as abstracts and images from thousands of periodicals covered by other Wilson resources, for the most current coverage of an individual’s life and work.
- Over 35,400 images—more than any competing resource—with more added all the time.
- New! Graphical interface, including a more graphical look and feel to the Search screen, more prominent links to additional content, image explosion, and new paragraph spacing to make onscreen text easier to read.
- New! Suggested searches on the Search screen, including Born on this Date, Featured Biography, Recently Added, Topic of the Month, plus links to four randomly chosen profiles.
- New! ReadSpeaker text-to-speech converter so that patrons can listen to MP3s of profiles in the library or on the go.
- Language translations, allowing patrons to convert articles from English into 11 other languages.
- My WilsonWeb customization.
- Periodicals coverage added daily, and up to 1,500 in-house narrative profiles added every year.
- Substantive narrative profiles of about 3,000 words each, written by in-house experts and subject to H.W. Wilson quality standards
- Licensed profiles from other leading publishers, selected for accuracy, completeness, and reference reputation
- Book review excerpts and full-text reviews from Wilson’s Book Review Digest Plus aid further research by helping users find and select print biographies.
- Precision searching by name, profession, place of origin, gender, ethnicity, birth/death dates, titles of works, or keywords.
Comparing biography resources? Other biographical resources might promise coverage of many thousands of individuals, but they often deliver little more than vital statistics. Our biographical profiles are either written in-house by experienced biographers or taken from trusted biography reference sources. Most are more than 1,500 words in length, and they present the rich, narrative life stories that researchers expect to see.
Biography Reference Bank is the ultimate biographical database from Wilson, encompassing all the trusted Wilson resources plus profiles licensed from the high-quality publishers listed below.
H.W. Wilson
American Authors 1600-1900
American Composers Today
American Reformers
American Songwriters
Authors Today & Yesterday
British Authors Before 1800
British Authors of the 19th Century
Composers of Today, 2nd Edition
Composers of Yesterday
Composers since 1900
Composers since 1900 1st Supplement
Current Biography 1940-Present (all
vols. from 1940-Present)
Current Biography International
Yearbook (all vols.)
European Authors 1000-1900
European Composers of Today
Great Composers 1300-1900
Greek and Latin Authors 800 B.C.-A.D.
1000
Junior Authors & Illustrators
Series, 9 vols.
Leaders of the Information Age
Living Musicians
Living Musicians 1st Supplement
Musicians since 1900
Nobel Prize Winners
Nobel Prize Winners Supplement
1987-2001 (3 vols.)
Old Worlds to New
Popular American Composers
Popular American Composers 1st
Supplement
Spanish American Authors
World Artists 1950-1980
World Artists 1980-1990
World Authors 1900-1950
World Authors 1950-1970
World Authors 1970-1975
World Authors 1975-1980
World Authors 1980-1985
World Authors 1985-1990
World Authors 1995-2000
World Film Directors, 2 vols.
World Musicians
Chambers Harrap
Chambers Biographies
Congressional Directory
Selected biographical information
and contact details
Fitzroy Dearborn
Computer Pioneers
Dictionary of Woman Artists, 2 vols.
Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The
19th Century
Encyclopedia of Interior Design, 2
vols.
Encyclopedia of Latin American
Literature
Encyclopedia of Mexico
Encyclopedia of Television
Encyclopedia of the Essay
Encyclopedia of the Novel, 2 vols.
International Dictionary of Black
Composers, 2 vols.
Reader's Guide to Russian Literature
Who's Who in British History, 2 vols.
Garland Publishing
African American Women: A
Biographical Dictionary
European Immigrant Women in the United
States
Handbook of American Women's History
Hollywood Songsters: A Biographical
Dictionary
Native American Women: A Biographical
Dictionary
North American Women Artists of the
Twentieth Century
Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical
Dictionary
Women Writers of Great Britain and
Europe
Greenwood
Biographical Dictionary of
American & Canadian Environmentalists
Biographical Dictionary of American
Newspaper Columnists
Biographical Dictionary of Christian
Theologians
Biographical Dictionary of European
Labor Leaders, 2 vols.
Biographical Dictionary of Literary
Influences
Biographical Dictionary of Modern
American Educators
Biographical Dictionary of North
American Classicists
Biographical Dictionary of Public
Administration
Biographical Dictionary of the Union
Biographical Dictionary of U.S.
Secretaries of Treasury, 1789-1995
Biographical Dictionary of WWII
Generals & Flag Officers
Biographical Directory of the U.S.
Executive Branch, 1774-1989
Brainard's Biographies of American
Musicians
Dictionary of American Religious
Biography
Harvard University Press
Notable American Women, 4 vols.
Helicon
Hutchinson Encyclopedia of
Biography
Houghton Mifflin
Encyclopedia of North American
Indians
The Great American History Fact-Finder
The Reader's Companion to Military
History
Who's Who of Sports Champions
James Clarke & Co.
Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages
Encyclopedia of the Early Church
Oryx
African American Political &
Governmental Leaders
African Americans and Civil Rights,
from 1619 to the Present
Distinguished African American
Scientists of the 20th Century
Encyclopedia of Religion in American
Politics
Encyclopedia of Religious Broadcasting
Encyclopedia of Television News
Encyclopedia of Women & Sports in
America
Encyclopedia of Women in American
Politics
Lives and Legacies: Scientists,
Mathematicians & Inventors
Outstanding Women Athletes
Storytelling Encyclopedia
Who's Who of Pulitzer Prize Winners
Oxford Publishing, Ltd.
A Concise Companion to the Jewish Religion
A Dictionary of Architecture
A Dictionary of Astronomy
A Dictionary of Biology
A Dictionary of British History
A Dictionary of Buddhism
A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology
A Dictionary of Chemistry
A Dictionary of Contemporary World History
A Dictionary of Earth Sciences
A Dictionary of Ecology
A Dictionary of English Folklore
A Dictionary of Physics
A Dictionary of Plant Sciences
A Dictionary of Political Biography
A Dictionary of Scientists
A Dictionary of Shakespeare
A Dictionary of Sociology
A Dictionary of the Bible
The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical
Literature
The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature
The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature
The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian
Church
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
The Oxford Companion to British History
The Oxford Companion to English Literature
The Oxford Companion to Music
The Oxford Companion to Philosophy
The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare
The Oxford Companion to The Earth
The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry
in English
The Oxford Companion to Western Art
The Oxford Dictionary of Dance
The Oxford Dictionary of Popes
The Oxford Dictionary of Saints
Oxford University Press
Encyclopedia of Astronomy & Astrophysics, 4 vols.
Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, 20 vols.
Grove Dictionary of Art, 44 vols.
Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, 2nd Edition, 23 vols.
New Grove Dictionary of Opera, 4 vols.
New Grove Dictionary of Women Composers
New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 4 vols.
New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics & the Law, 2 vols.
Note:
All the profiles from the Wilson titles listed above are included in Biography
Reference Bank. Profiles licensed from other publishers include a selected
list from the titles noted. 
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